‘Unstoppable’ review: Jennifer Lopez stars in a fantastic, inspiring sports movie

nypost.com:

co-starring Jennifer Lopez as Anthony’s hardworking mom Judy, is a veritable tear factory.You know what you’re in for when, after winning a national high school championship in Philadelphia at the start of the film, teenaged Anthony quietly ducks out of a banquet celebrating him.“Someone should tell him he won,” a college recruiter says.The humble kid, who always refused to wear a prosthetic leg, instead walks alone to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and stares at the monument to his fictional idol, Rocky Balboa.That’s the kind of underdog tale “Unstoppable” aspires to be — one in which the hero’s home life struggles are indistinguishable from the peaks and valleys of competition.

One in which Adrian matters as much as Creed.Anthony’s version of those steps, by the way, is a mountain in Arizona where he was attending ASU as a walk-on with no guaranteed spot on the team.

Determined, he runs up the steep rocks using crutches with his fellow wrestlers. When he reached the top, it was one of many moments of victory that got applause on Friday.Physically a beast, what Robles had to overcome most of all was the doubts of those around him.His coach, played by Don Cheadle, is initially skeptical of Anthony but comes around after he witnesses his drive and ability.

Ceaseless in her belief though is Judy, played by Lopez in one of her best performances in a minute. Her arc as a struggling mother of several kids is every bit as involving as Anthony’s and gets its proper due.